The present invention generally relates to a system and method for sending money via electronic mail and, more particularly, to a system and method for sending money via electronic mail over a computer network wherein a sender identifies a withdraw account such as a checking account and/or a credit card account and a receiver identifies a deposit account such as a checking account or credit card account.
The Internet is a public network of computers which is, in simplified fashion, a web of autonomous computers and computer servers (“ACCS”) linked to data switches or routers and connected together. The ACCS are typically owned and operated by Internet Service Providers (“ISP”) such as PSI, UUNET, MCI, SPRINT, etc. The ACCS are link by telecommunication lines to form the Internet. Large data sources such as universities, governments, and corporations, collect and market information through their own Internet servers connected to the Internet. Users typically access the Internet using an Internet access device such as a personal computer or WEB TV which are connected to an ISP via a telecommunications line. The ISP typically provides numerous services for its users such as, for example, electronic messaging or mail (“e-mail”) and access to the World Wide Web (“WWW”).
Each resource (e.g., computer or computer server) is identified by a unique Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). Computer servers (typically called “Web servers” or “Web sites”), store information on graphical pages called Web pages. To view specific information, a user specifies the URL for the Web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) request). The request is forwarded to the Web server that supports the Web page and the Web server sends the Web page of information to the user's computer. The user's computer displays the Web page, typically using a browser which is a special-purpose application program which requests and displays Web pages.
Web pages are typically defined using HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a Web page displays various text, graphics, controls, and other features. When the user requests the browser to display a Web page, the browser sends a request to the Web server to transfer to the user's computer an HTML document that defines the Web page. When the requested HTML document is received, by the user's computer, the browser displays the Web page as defined by the HTML document. The HTML document may contain URL's of other Web pages available on that Web server or other Web servers.
The Internet is considered to have enormous potential as means of communication, source of information, and marketplace for products. It is now possible to communicate with virtually everyone with a computer, to obtain information about virtually everything, and to purchase virtually anything via the Internet. Although the Internet has enormous potential, use of the Internet may not be developing at a rate it can and should develop. One reason for this depressed development is the difficulty to send money over the Internet. A user cannot send cash or a check over the Internet and sending a credit card number via the Internet is only an option if the sender has a credit card and the recipient has a credit card merchant account as required by credit card companies. Additionally, the alternative of sending cash or a check via a physical delivery service is slow and burdensome and is relatively expensive to obtain a shorter delivery time. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of sending money via the Internet.
Product manufacturers and retailers often provide rebates to customers for purchasing products. Typically, such rebates require warranty cards or rebate coupons to be mailed to the manufacturer. Upon processing the cards or coupons, the manufacturer mails a check for the rebate amount to the purchaser. The present methods of processing rebate requests are inefficient and time consuming. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method for requesting and delivering rebates to consumers.